


don't blame me for fallin' (i was just a little boy)

by blackwoodhart



Category: Outer Banks (TV)
Genre: F/M, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, JJ (Outer Banks) Needs Love, JJ pays a lot of attention for someone who pretends not to care, Kiara Has Feelings For JJ (Outer Banks)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:08:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26331658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackwoodhart/pseuds/blackwoodhart
Summary: JJ Maybank could never just simply care about something, when it came to Kiara it was always too much
Relationships: JJ/Kiara (Outer Banks)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 77





	don't blame me for fallin' (i was just a little boy)

If there was one thing about JJ that Kiara loved, it was the way he didn’t care.

When they’d first met and John B had dragged her down to the beach to surf with them for the first time, nine years old and shivering in the fall sun, JJ had taken one look at her and her brand new board and smiled.

As long as she knew how to surf he didn’t mind her one bit.

The board didn’t stay shiny, in fact, the board was the first kook thing Kiara ever traded for something from the cut.

That evening the Pogues had been crowded around the fire pit in John B’s backyard, the sound of Big John’s crackling radio sputtered in the background. John B and Pope were reenacting one of John B’s major wipeouts of the day next to the pit to Big John while JJ and Kiara crouched in the grass nearby.

“No!” JJ practically shouted in her ear as she dragged a straight line of wax across the short end of her board. Kiara’s spire snapped straight and she lowered her gaze under his scrutiny.

JJ seemed to notice her reaction.

“Not like that…” he tried again, his tone softer and an apologetic smile creeping onto his face, “like this”.

Taking the wax from her he marked diagonal lines across the face. With a satisfied huff he handed the chunk of wax back to Kiara and put his hands on his hips.

“You try.”

Kiara was not someone who got nervous. She knew her worth and understood she had nothing to be afraid of, especially not when it came to young boys, but something in JJ’s confidence set her off-kilter.

Kiara found her heart thumping in her chest as she dragged a shaky hand across her board, opposite to JJ’s lines. Each took forever and a day as JJ’s gaze burnt into the side of her face.

One (no go over that again)

Two

Three (and again)

Four

A hand closed over the top of hers, the strong grip pushing down on her small hand. JJ was smiling at her as she whipped her head to face him.

“You’ve got to press harder, that’s all.”

His hand moved her’s across the board once again, more pressure against it now as a thick white line appeared in their wake.

“It creates a good base for the next layer! You’re using that fancy kook stuff right?” His eyes lit up as she turned to her bag and pulled out the fresh boxed of surf wax. She had bought every single type she could see at the counter of the board repair in town. A small smile played across his face as JJ sifted through the boxes, making faces at the cold water boxes and occasionally sniffing them.

“Here!” in his little tanned hand was a box of tropic wax which he quickly ripped from the box and swapped with the cold wax Kiara had in her hand, pressing the hard circle into her palm.

“Now you’re gonna go back over the whole board and make little circle motions”, he demonstrated this by waving his free hand in the air next to his head, ”remember to use the pressure or it won’t make enough of a difference”.

As Kara rubbed the face of the board again, JJ soon grew distracted by the remaining contents of her bag, which had spilled onto the grass next to them. She stole quick glances at him to watch as he made faces at the name brand sunscreen she had brought with her, taking a drink from her metal drink bottle while surveying her work.

“This is a whole lot of wax, Kie,” he said, leant back on his hands as Kiara crouched next to him, “I usually have to just steal my chunks off Big John and honestly I’m thinking that he’s starting to notice.

Of course, John noticed the wax that went missing from the bag he kept his board in, he left it there by no mistake.

“Oh!,” she said, leaning back on her heels and rolling her wrist to relieve some of the pressure, “take some, please, I don’t really know what type we need here.” That last line was said with the slightest of shame. Watching JJ surf made you realise just how incompetent you truly were out there. He had grace in the ocean that he lacked on land, evident from the plethora of bruises he collected in the playground, apparently at home too.

Something unpleasant settled on JJ’s face and he frowned quickly at the pile next to him, “ no its alright, I don’t wann-“ he started.

“J, take some, God knows I don’t need it all!” There was no malice in Kie’s voice as she watched the boy pluck at the grass by his hip, grinning at his mumbled _fine_.

By the end of the week, Kiara was frustrated beyond belief by her board, complaining to Big John that _its too new_ , like a pair of shoes she hadn’t work in yet. By God were the proverbial shoes giving her blisters. Her hips and knees were bruised and sore from constantly landing too hard on the fibre-glass board.

The trade had taken place fifteen minutes later.

Kiara had been as grumpy as a now ten-year-old could possibly get, glaring out at the foaming waves as John B and Pope paddled out.

She hadn’t noticed JJ’s presence until the sand next to her had kicked up and droplets of water had splashed down on her. She couldn’t contain the anger in her eyes as JJ grinned sheepishly down at her.

“Wanna try mine?”

No one, absolutely no one had ever been able to ride JJ’s board before, not even with all of John B’s complaining.

Kiara felt something in her chest soften as she smiled up at the blonde boy, his hair like a halo against the afternoon sun.

The trade lasted the rest of the evening and Kiara had gifted JJ the rest of the wax from her bag, ignoring his refusals (and if she’d happened to notice which one’s he’d smiled at the smell of, so be it. He couldn’t be hurt by a few more appearing in his board bag).

To ten-year-old JJ Maybank, the wax wasn’t the thing making him smile when he went to retrieve his board the next afternoon after school, it was the memory of the burning kiss Kiara had left on his cheek as he’d handed her board back, grinning like an idiot.

Kiara was like gold to his little mind, and he intoned to hunt for it for a long time.

Sometimes, Kiara really couldn’t stand the way JJ didn’t care.

It was the junior dance, one of the few times both Kook Academy and Kildare High ever came face to face. The school board had decided the two districts had to share at least one formal even every year, sadly, including the Pogues junior year.

Naturally, putting the Pogues and Kooks in a confined space in formal wear that had vast differences was not the greatest of ideas. The Kooks had lasted all of thirty seconds before the first few sneers had turned to commentary about the wear and tear of the Pogues formal outfits.

Then there were the words used when Kiara walked in with JJ’s arm around her waist.

It was a small mercy on his behalf (JJ had wanted to have his hand on her ass, which had learnt him a solid smack to the arm), choosing to take her as his date. Kiara couldn’t stand being further from her Pogues than she had to, not with her apparently permanent shunning at the Kook academy, which she’d brushed off the second she got her boys back.

John B and surprisingly Pope both had already secured dates by the day before the dance, leaving both her and JJ to stare idly at each other across John B’s kitchen yesterday evening.

“Should we-“

“Kie, do you wan-“

They’d finally stumbled over each other after a few minutes of awkward leaning.

Before she had left to return home, Kiara had stopped at the door, gripping the handle and drawing a sharp breath,

“My dress is dark green if you wanted to know.”

She actually hadn’t expected JJ to take note of her comment about the dress, writing it off as something he’d slam into the _Things Kiara has Said but Don’t Listen To_ drawer inside his mind.

What she truly hadn’t expected was him on her door at 2 pm the next day in a suit that really did fit him and an olive green tie twisted around his hand.

“I got no clue how to use this, princess,” he said as she stepped back to let him past into the entryway of her home, JJ leant forward and pressed his lips to her ear, “at least, not the way it was intended for.”

He dropped back quickly, shooting her a wink before roaming off towards the kitchen where Mike Carrera was preparing dinner. JJ found himself wrapped in a conversation with Mike about fishing. Mike would constantly remind JJ to use his first name. JJ would only reply, _yes Mr Carrera_.

Kie had disappeared off into her room to finish getting ready. Her mom and dad always wanted photos of this sort of event, meaning that, though the dance started at 4, she’d needed to be ready an hour in advance. A quick glance at her bedside tabled showed her clock and the time.

“Shit” she muttered, hurriedly smoothing down hairs that had escaped the beautiful bun she’d woven at the back of her head, beaded pins holding it in place.

Standing in front of her floor-length mirror, she allowed herself a minute to take herself in, the way the dress accentuated every curve of her figure, brushing her ankles, the glistening eyeshadow doing nothing but compliment her final look.

She’d refused her mother’s attempts to get Kiara to forgo the bracelets on her arm. Kiara had swatted her mother away, “no mom, JJ and I can match through that.”

Fastening the final buckle on her heels, Kie made her way back downstairs to the living room, where JJ had been corralled by both her parents.

Their first meeting two years ago had been suboptimal to say the very least. JJ had been in the midst of clambering through Kiara’s bedroom window, shirt half open and hair wild, while Kiara watched from her bed, smiling sleepily. While her parents had obviously assumed the worst, JJ had been overheating (explaining the shirt) and Kiara hadn’t been able to sleep, calling him at 11:40 on a Tuesday night to ask if he could help her fall asleep. He’d obliged, telling her the stories his mother used to tell as he made the walk from his side of the Cut to the Carrera house on the edge of Figure Eight.

As he’d finished his second story, JJ had dropped through her window, much to Kiara’s surprise, and plonked himself on the space on her bed that she didn’t fill, playing with her hair and continuing through his third story.

The inquisition Kiara entered this evening was a far cry from the _Are You and My Daughter Sleeping Together?_ one held that night. JJ was telling the story of the time Kiara had managed to hook his finger while fishing on the marsh last summer and the sound of her parents' laughter rang out across the room.

Her mother looked up at the sound of Kiara’s heels and gasped at the sight of her daughter.

“Oh Kiara, my gorgeous girl!” She cried, gripping onto her husband's arm.

JJ turned, a lazy smile slipping from his face as he locked on to Kiara.

“Damn, Kie, if I knew you could shine up this nice I might have fake dated you much sooner!”

There it was.

Fake dating.

Tonight they were there as ** _boyfriend and girlfriend_** because everyone would assume they were anyway, so why not just roll with the punches and scare everyone half to death anyway?

Kiara tried her best to ignore the way the idea of JJ Maybank being hers made her feel. Something feminist Kiara wouldn’t approve of, that’s for sure.

JJ stood from his seat and made his way over to her, taking one of her hands in his and gently placing the other on her waist, raising her hand and spinning her in a full circle. Her laugh glittered off the white walls.

JJ let out a low whistle and stepped back, hands still in place, taking her in.

He shook his head twice, smirking before turning back to her parents, who were stood in the doorframe of the living room.

“Your daughter is one beautiful girl Mr and Mrs C.”

The idea of JJ Maybank being a person of interest for Kiara had grown on the Carreras like mold, not entirely sure it was wanted but there nonetheless. In fact, over time, both the adults had learned to love JJ for himself, finding him the most charming and personable of all Kiara’s Pogue friends. He’d found himself invited for dinner more times than worth remembering, almost every time he went to sneak Kiara from her shifts at The Wreck twenty minutes early claiming John B hand managed to find himself in one form of trouble or the next.

Her mother smiled fondly at the two of them, thinking to herself of when she’d brought her boy form the Cut home for the first time, of how she hadn’t given up until he had a place in her family home.

“Actually, Kie,” JJ said, snapping them all back to focus, “I meant to give you this”.

Reaching into his pants pocket, his produced a folded tissue, wrinkled and torn in a few places, depositing it into her hand. Carefully folding back the pieces, Kiara revealed a glittering gold chain.

“Jay’ was the only word she was able to get out.

He smiled down at her, his wild blonde hair and the tie he still hadn’t learnt to manage around his neck, and all Kiara could think to do was kiss him.

That was out of the question.

She settled for flinging her arms around his neck and the feeling of his face burying in her hair.

“It was my mom’s,” he explained, taking the thin chain from Kiara’s palm and stepping behind her, brushing a few stray hairs from her neck. Kie tried her best not to shiver.

“I figured you deserved something good from me for once, and I sure as hell wouldn’t be able to pull that off!”

Blinking back tears, Kiara placed a gentle kiss to his cheek and settled back down from her tiptoes. Her tears were choked by a laugh as she tugged at his tie, deftly swinging the smooth fabric around his collar and pulling it together at the base of his throat.

Photos lasted half an hour, with Anna Carrera spending the majority of it muttering behind her hand to Mike, words like _those kids_ and _you and I_ and _maybe after this_ were the only thing Kiara could pick from the quiet conversation.

They’d walked through the doors of the Kook Academy halls together, his hand around her waist and her hand resting on his, heads held high and smirking. Let them talk, she thought, grinning against he whispers circling the room.

_Of course, she’s here with Maybank, probably all she could get._

_Do you think she had to pay him?_

_No, he probably paid her._

_With what money?_

JJ’s jaw was tight and she reached up to brush at his hair as the pair found their way through the crowd to where their Pogue friends were milling by the food.

Then the first punch had been thrown.

Thankfully, for JJ’s sake, there were multiple witnesses and even a recording of the fact Adam Regan had punched JJ first.

It had followed a comment about Kiara, about Kiara and Adam in the gym one afternoon. Something that had never happened. Apparently, JJ’s laugh hadn’t been what Adam was looking for, especially when JJ followed up with “I think I can safely say she was with me last Wednesday, buddy”.

But, as per usual, after the first punch, JJ was swinging back at Adam with full force, landing four solid hits before Kiara was standing between the two of them, her hand gripping into his forearm.

“We've had our fun here, come on let's get lost!” She had called to the Pogues who had surged forward to assist JJ.

A chorus of cheers went up as the kids for the Cut surged towards the exit to the hall, Kiara and JJ leading the way as they ran past the security.

“You can’t keep doing that J, you just can’t keep putting yourself in danger the second someone hits you,” they were sitting on the roof outside her bedroom window, a cigarette passing between his fingers to hers, “its shitty but they’re never worth it”.

JJ took another drag from the cigarette she held up to his lips, “it wouldn’t matter if the subject hadn’t been you, Kie”.

She stubbed out the butt on a tile and let out a sigh, staring out at the town in front of them.

His hand came up the trace her jaw. She turned to face him, taking in JJ the way she knew him; messy blonde hair smelling of saltwater, his sleeves rolled up and jacket forgotten on the floor next to Kiara’s heels.

JJ gave the slightest laugh and cupped her cheek.

“But its always been you, Kie”

He tasted like smoke and punch and peppermint gum.

His lips were rough against hers and for a second he began to pull back. She chased the feeling of his lips on hers, chased the thing she’d wanted for so long. Her hands flew to his hair and his found their way to her waist, fingers gripping into the back of her dress.

They found their way back inside against laughs and hot kisses.

Her dress joined her shoes on the floor, his green tie blending in in the pool of satin.

When the world finally stopped spinning and they lay still, Kiara was curled into his side, the warm spring air floating through her window and twisting around the pair. Her smile shone up at him, chain winking against her bare skin in the moonlight.

He found his gold, and this time, he got to keep it.

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi on tumblr @simpforjiara  
> or check out my instagram @svaintz  
> <3


End file.
